A Concrete - inches, sand, walls, wall, stone and cement

A CONCRETE The modern equipment of a rural home, espe cially if it is located where a supply of ice is available for harvest in the winter, is not com plete without an ice-house. And for this pur pose no material lends itself better to the con struction than does concrete. To be sure that the heat will be kept out in the summer, it is well to provide for a wall at least sixteen inches in thickness. A wall of this character will protect the contents of the ice-house amply. A hollow wall, also, is advantageous.

For an ice-house of ordinary size, sufficient to hold a supply for a family of five or six, an exca vation one foot below the desired depth of foun dation will do. This surface should be cleaned off and leveled, and upon it a layer of crushed stone or broken bricks should be placed, ram ming the material thoroughly. This will afford opportunity for drainage. See Plate 7.

If the wall is to be of sixteen inches thick ness, the forms should be set up allowing for a space of that width.

The foundation, on the sub-foundation that has been previously wetted, should be composed of a mixture of one part Portland cement, three parts clean, sharp sand, and six parts of broken stone. The foundation ought to be four feet deep. Better satisfaction will be secured if pro vision is made for an air space between the walls. Two 6-inch walls 4 inches apart, and bound to gether with rods, will be a good. arrangement. Separate forms for each must be constructed. Walls of this width will require no other rein forcement than the binding rods, provided the house is not to be high. One part of Portland cement, two of sand, and four of crushed stone will be the proportions of the mixture for the walls. The walls should be built in sections about two feet high at a time. Place the rods of half-inch iron with strong heads imbedded about two inches in the inner surface of each wall, and about a foot apart. This will help the wall stand the lateral pressure of any pile of ice within that may rest against it.

The roof, reinforced with iron rods a foot apart, is the next step. A form is con

structed, of the desired angle. Upon this, about three inches of sand is placed and smoothed off carefully. Lay the rods so that they will rest one and one-half inches above the sand and put on a coat of three inches of concrete. The forms should not be touched for two weeks. Then the sand can be let out from the interior. All the openings between the walls and the roof must be closed up.

Small Storage Buildings.

These should either be built of hollow concrete blocks, or, if monolithic in form, there should be an air space in the walls. The air space is necessary to re tard dampness and keep out the frost.

Root Cellar.

Cellars of this character usually are built half below and half above the surface of the ground. When properly made, they ought to be proof against all inroads by frost. Excavation should be carried down to a point sixteen inches below the desired level of the floor. The foundation should be twelve inches wide; and the mixture for it should be one part Portland cement, three parts coarse sand, and six parts gravel or crushed stone. Forms should be made for the foundation. After it is laid, the forms should be removed; and a porous material, either broken bricks or cinders, should be filled in over the floor space to a depth of twelve inches. This should be well tamped. The floor, of a total thickness of four inches, should consist of three inches of concrete and one inch of cement mortar. The concrete should be one part cement, three parts sand, and five parts gravel or crushed stone.

The wall of the cellar should be eight inches thick, started from the center of the 12-inch foundation. The mixture for the wall may be one part Portland cement, two and one-half parts sand, and five parts crushed stone, gravel or cinders. Build up the end walls so as to form a point at the middle, and high enough to give the roof a sufficient pitch to shed the rain. Near the top at each end, it should be remembered to provide openings for windows; and the sash